The GRAAL experimental set-up consists of a polarized and tagged photon beam that covers an energy range from a minimum of 600 MeV up to a maximum of 1500 MeV, of a liquid Hydrogen or Deuterium target and of the 4π Lagrange detector optimized for photon detection. It allows the study of pseudo-scalar and vector meson photoproduction on the nucleon

The characteristics of ionized and H I gas in the peculiar star/cluster complex in NGC 6946, obtained with the 6-m telescope (BTA) Special Astrophysical Observatory Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the Gemini North telescope, and the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, are presented. The complex is unusual as hosting a super star cluster, the

H-alpha emission both traces diffuse ionised nebulae and is commonly prominent in the spectra of pre- and post-main-sequence stars and interacting binaries. Since these are mostly relatively short-lived phases of evolution, they represent a minority of objects in a mature galaxy like our own at any one time. In the case of interacting binaries

We have obtained intermediate resolution optical spectra of the black-hole candidate Nova Sco 1994 in June 1996, when the source was in an X-ray/optical active state (R~15.05). We measure the radial velocity curve of the secondary star and obtain a semi-amplitude of 279+/-10 km s-1 a value which is 30 per cent larger than the value obtained when

GRO J0422+32 (= V518 Per) is a black-hole X-ray nova which went into outburst on August 5, 1992. Since then, we have been monitoring the decay light curve of the optical counterpart using the FLWO 1.2-m telescope. Following the steep optical decay of the primary outburst in April 1993, two mini-outbursts were observed with amplitudes of ~ 4 mag and

According to its spectral type B2 Ib/I I (Klare & Neckel 1977; Schmidt & Carruthers 1996), HD163899 is a supergiant star. The star presents p and g-mode pulsations (Saio et al. 2006). In such a post-main sequence (post MS) star, the helium core is radiative with a very large Brunt-Väisälä frequency which produces a strong damping. The presence of